University of Kent

Economic and financial history at your fingertips! You have trial access until 24 June 2012 to:

• Economist Historical Archive, 1843-2007
  Fully searchable complete facsimile edition of The Economist, the weekly paper which is essential reading for anyone engaged in politics, current affairs and all aspects of business and trade worldwide.
• Financial Times Historical Archive, 1888-2006
  An essential, comprehensive and unbiased research tool for everyone studying public affairs, and economic and financial history of the last 120 years. 

Access resources on trial and give feedback at: www.kent.ac.uk/library/resources/e-resources/trial

The Requirements and Solutions section of Information Services are interested in recruiting students to work in the following roles:

• Web designer
• Web developer
• Web content editor

All three roles offer flexible working hours to fit around your degree and no previous experience is needed as training will be provided. All vacancies offer excellent rates of pay - between £8-£13 per hour.

Full job descriptions are available online: www.kent.ac.uk/web/recruitment.html

Application deadline: 10 June 2012

Interviews to start: week commencing 18 June 2012

To apply please send your CV, cover letter and portfolio to: S.L.Gavin@kent.ac.uk

Please indicate which role you are applying for in the 'Subject' title of the email to ensure your application is processed in the most appropriate way.

You have trial acces until 13 June 2012 to RILM Abstracts of Music Literature.

RILM Abstracts of Music Literature is a comprehensive guide to publications in music from all over the world, from Hildegard to hip hop, from ethnomusicology to music therapy. It covers articles, books, catalogues, dissertations and other publications from 1967 to the present.

To access resources available on trial and to give feedback, visit: www.kent.ac.uk/library/resources/e-resources/trial

The IS eBook survey is looking at how Information Services can improve the student experience by understanding how students use and access this valuable Library resource.

If you are a student at the University of kent, we would like to invite you to complete this short survey:

• https://survey.kent.ac.uk/ebooks_survey_2012

You can enter a prize draw to win a £50 Blackwells voucher (which can be used online or in one of their shops) by leaving your Kent login details at the end of the survey.

You are invited to attend an introductory, hands-on workshop covering how to add details of research outputs to the Kent Academic Repository.

KAR is the University of Kent’s Open Access (OA) repository of research outputs, a publicly accessible shop window for disseminating the quality research activity undertaken by Kent academic staff and researchers.

It has undergone a substantial programme of redesign and roadtesting based on feedback, so that the 2012 model now offers a sleeker, more efficient experience. A rolling programme of further enhancements will add more functionality and additional improvements.  A KAR User Group, with academic and administrative representation from each Faculty, has direct input into the evolution of KAR. Individuals can also submit improvements requests using the feedback mechanisms within KAR.

Who is the workshop for?

The workshop is aimed at:

• all academic staff and researchers across the University
• Directors of Research and REF Co-ordinators
• administrative staff who collate and manage details of research outputs for their School

Workshop content:

• KAR steering lesson – a quick orientation
• importing records from other sources (the quick and easy way…)
• uploading the post-refereed, preprint document
• quality: making sure you have set the correct item type and filled in the required fields
• depositing: final upload of the record and preprint document to KAR
• using KAR to promote your research
• KAR and the REF
• KAR breakdown cover

Workshop details:

Venue:

• Templeman Library, Training Room TR301 (Level 3 East)

Workshop dates:

• Thursday 17 May 2-4pm
• Thursday 21 June 2-4pm
• Thursday 19 July 2-4pm
• Thursday 16 August 2-4pm

Each workshop is restricted to twelve places. Please email sla-contact@kent.ac.uk to book a place on your preferred workshop.

Please bring with you:

• details of records you wish to load into KAR (if you are involved in the REF, then you could bring details of your REF submissible documents)
• if possible, full-text preprint files for each record you wish to upload

Why use KAR?

• to meet funders requirements for OA deposit of research outputs
• to exploit the potential of OA for increasing the impact of research (in the lead up to the REF, and beyond)
• to make details (and full-text) of research more visible and accessible
• to promote individual, group of School level research activity to a wider audience
• as a system to collate, store and manage details of research outputs for the School

More information:

Fulfil funder mandates for open access publishing of research outputs:

Most funding bodies (eg all RCUK members) now require open access deposit of research outputs funded via their grants. (See JULIET for further information about funder requirements).  

Most commercial journal publishers allow authors the right to self-deposit post-refereed, preprint versions of manuscripts in an open access repository (see SHERPA/ROMEO for details of what your publisher will allow).

• Depositing post-refereed, preprint versions of your manuscripts in KAR meets funder requirements, and gives you the flexibility to publish in a source of your choice, without being restricted to open access titles which charge author fees

Exploit potential benefits for increasing the impact of your research: 

There is evidence that having a visible version of your work, freely available as full-text under open access, contributes to greater awareness and can lead to a higher number of citations.  Search engines (e.g. GoogleScholar, etc.) rank entries from repositories higher on results pages than they rank individual web pages.

• GoogleScholar journal ranking rates three OA repositories in the top ten
• KAR records are likely to receive more click-throughs from internet search results than publication details pasted into individual web pages

Make details of your research outputs more visible and accessible: 

The repository (unlike a subscription journal or database) is free to search.  KAR can index a wide range of publication types (books, chapters, reports/working papers, conference papers, book reviews), many academic databases are restricted to just one of two (e.g. articles). Data from KAR is automatically harvested by search engines (e.g. Google, Bing, Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic Search, etc.).

• Key bibliographic subscription databases (like Web of Knowledge or SCOPUS) may only index up to 50% of UoK research outputs (depending on discipline and publication type)
• Details of your research can be readily found on the wider web if indexed in KAR
• No subscription barrier is placed in the way of other researchers finding and reading your work

KAR can be used to prepare records of research output for REF submission: 

We are testing a REF2014 plugin with KAR that allows the overlaying of additional REF essential data onto KAR records.  The plugin allows the Research Office to “squirt” REF ready submission packages out of KAR for UoA panels.

Use KAR to help promote individual, group, or School level research outputs: 

The web snippet enables a feed of KAR records into individual, group or School web pages, meaning your publication list is updated when new records are added to KAR.

During the spring and summer terms the Templeman Library has been piloting 24 hour DVD loans as part of Information Services’ strategy to extend and improve services. The pilot closes 15 June.

If you have borrowed a DVD during this period we would like to invite you to complete this very short survey:

https://survey.kent.ac.uk/dvd_pilot_2012 
 
You can enter a prize draw to win a £20 gift token by leaving your Kent log in details at the end of the survey.

Some e-book titles which are currently displaying in the catalogue with the location 'Electronic Book (preview only)' are only available to preview for five minutes. Full access to these titles is not yet available.

Full access to these titles will become available later in the year as part of a pilot to enable students to suggest e-books for purchase.

In the meantime if you view any items in the Library catalogue with the location  'Electronic Book (preview only)' which are essential to your study or research please email your academic liaison librarian with the item details and the reasons for your recommendation (including your School, stage and module code if related to your course) and they will consider the item for purchase.

Contact details for your academic liaison librarian:
www.kent.ac.uk/library/templeman/contacts/subject.html

Pressure on Library resources and study spaces is increasing during the exam period. During this busy time, we are asking all Templeman Library users to respect their neighbour’s right to study.

Please:

• choose your study zone according to your needs (silent, quiet or social)
• respect others’ needs for silent or quiet study, and be aware that headphones can leak noise
• use student PCs only for academic work at busy times
• bin your litter
• have food in the social learning zone only – drinks in screw-top bottles are allowed elsewhere

If you are being disturbed in a silent study zone, email library-report@kent.ac.uk and a member of staff will come and check it out.

Have your say about Information Services at Kent:
www.kent.ac.uk/is/feedback/feedback.html

In response to student demand, the University has launched a student webapp for iPhone, iPad, Android & Blackberry Touch devices, available now via your device's browser at kent.ac.uk/mobile or on a computer using Google Chrome or Safari.

The app features:

• Access to Uni essentials in one place – course timetables, PC availability, travel info and SMS alerts.
• Links to useful info - department A-Z, twitter directory of academic schools, support services and experts at Kent.
• Medway info – includes info for the Medway campus.
• Web browser access – no app store download needed.
• Automatic updates – no need to upgrade to the latest version.
• Compatibility – works well on the majority of devices used at Kent.

The app was developed to work on as many devices as possible, and driven by the needs of Kent students.  In 2010/11 the mobile survey and follow-up focus groups revealed that students mostly wanted to be able to access timetables and check PC availability on their phones, and that they wanted to find information without trawling websites or seeking out the relevant department.

Feedback on the app is welcomed, as improvements and additions will be made on an on-going basis. Current plans for further development include:

• Time management tools e.g. View My Deadlines, Marks Alert.
• Room finder.
• Mobile-friendly web pages across the main web site.

To submit your feedback, use the yellow bubble icon on the app.

Extended opening hours for the exam period start on Monday 26 March and end on 13 June 2012. Throughout this period – including the Easter weekend – the Templeman Library building will be open until 3am each day.

Library service desks are open 9am-9pm on weekdays and 12noon-6pm at weekends and on bank holidays, including Good Friday through Easter Monday.

View the full Templeman Library opening hours at: www.kent.ac.uk/library/templeman/opening.html

The Student Data System (SDS) is expected to remain busy due to Online Module Registration. By the morning of Monday 19 March, 3000 out of a possible 8434 students had successfully registered for their modules online.

If you experience access issues with SDS please try again later if you aren't able to access the service straight away. 

Please avoid using the Chrome web browser when accessing SDS. For the best experience, we advise using Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari instead.

Please check the IT service alerts for updates: http://www.kent.ac.uk/is/computing/motd.html

Details have been released of a serious security vulnerability that could lead to exploits of the Windows operating system. It is expected that exploits will be in the form of a worm and these spread very fast to vulnerable systems.

You should urgently do the following:

Staff:

If your work Windows PC receives automatic Windows updates, reboot it immediately to ensure that any patches which have been downloaded and are waiting to be installed are applied.

If your PC is not automatically updated then make sure you apply outstanding patches without delay.

Staff and students:

If you have your own personal PC or laptop, make sure it has the latest Microsoft updates (which were made available for download on Tuesday 13 March 2012).
http://www.update.microsoft.com

Do not access the internet with privileged accounts (any account with administrator privileges). This gives some protection from new security exploits not yet blocked by anti-virus software.

PCs running an unsupported version of Windows – pre XP Service Pack 3 - cannot be patched and should not be connected to the Kent network.

Note that campus Student PCs in Libraries and PC rooms have already been patched.

The Shibboleth login issues affecting e-resources earlier today have now been reported fixed. They were due to defective data being sent to our system by UK Access Management Federation.

We apologise for any inconvenience. If the issue caused problems with assignments, please quote IS Helpdesk ticket number 150721 to your academic school if they request confirmation of the interruption.

There was disruption to logging into subscription e-resources from the morning of Saturday 10 March to 6am on Monday 12 March 2012, rendering e-resources, including e-books, e-journals, databases, etc, inaccessible.

We apologise for the interruption to service, which coincided with a deadline for some assignments. Please quote IS Helpdesk ticket number 150023 to your academic school if they request confirmation of the interruption.

The cause for the interruption is being investigated.

To celebrate Charles Dickens' bicentenary and his dramatic legacy, Special Collections presents the first of three planned exhibitions this year about the great author’s work: "Dramatic Dickens and nineteenth-century theatre".

Dickens was perhaps the most famous nineteenth century author, yet his own works were only part of his legacy. His stories reached far and wide through theatrical adaptations and even today they are dramatised to wide audiences in the theatre, the cinema and on TV.

This exhibition aims to show how Dickens’ contemporaries reacted to his works: with such enthusiasm that the author found himself swamped by pirated versions of his own stories. It features original nineteenth century playbills, books, programmes and other materials.

The exhibition can be viewed in the Gallery on Level 1 East of the Templeman Library during Library opening hours. It runs until the end of May 2012.

Visit the Special Collections blog for more information: http://blogs.kent.ac.uk/specialcollections

Over the past two years we’ve been changing the anti-virus software used on University owned computers from F-Secure to Microsoft Forefront.

All Staff Managed Desktops have already been updated. However if you have a laptop setup by Information Services, or another computer running a University copy of F-Secure, you should replace the software before 1 April 2012 to ensure that you remain protected.

For University-owned computers we advise using Microsoft Forefront. If a different product is used it must be properly licensed for corporate use (some free products are only valid for personal use).

Laptops previously setup by Information Services can be updated with Forefront automatically – simply connect to the Kent network then reboot twice. A green and white ‘tick’ icon will show in the status bar if Forefront has been successfully installed.

For personally-owned computers staff should use Microsoft Security Essentials (the home version of Microsoft Forefront) or another product of their choice, which can be licensed or free as long as it is kept up-to-date.

It's required that users of the Kent network ensure their devices have adequate and up-to-date anti-virus. More information on protecting your computer (including anti-virus installation instructions and recommendations for Macs), can be found at:
http://www.kent.ac.uk/itservices/secure/index.html

The 360 Link service provides access to full text from search results in many of the Library's e-databases and from journal article records in the University’s new reading list system. To improve this service, some functionality will change on Thursday 1 March:

• Clicking the 360 Link icon will bypass the search results screen and launch the full-text article if available; search results can still be accessed by following a link at the top of the screen.
• The search results page will offer citation export/save and email options.
• The search results page will offer the option to save a stable article link to full text (by clicking the floppy disk icon).
• We have also added some custom links to the search results page, including a link to the Library catalogue, a link to the new 'report a fault' form, and a link to document delivery if no full text is available.

Please give feedback on the new functionality so we can further improve the service, or use the 'report a fault' form if you experience any access issues.

New laptop loans are now available from the IT & Library Support Desk on Level 2 Centre of the Templeman Library.

The new service provides:

• 14" screen long-life battery laptops fo use anywhere in the Library
• the same software that's available on fixed PCs running the Student PC Services
• the same functionality as the Study PC Service

We currently gathering student feedback about the new laptops to help us develop the service and improve the student experience - so please complete the short survey available from the support desk after you've used one of the new laptops and let us know what you think.

Alternatively, please submit your feedback online:

• www.kent.ac.uk/is/feedback/feedback.html

During the Canterbury Cathedral Archives closure, Special Collections will hold a small selection of the Cathedral's microfilm records, including Parish Records, Bishops' Transcripts and other local history material.

They will be accessible to Kent staff, students, and visitors during the Special Collections opening hours of Monday-Friday, 9.30am-1pm and 2pm-4.30pm in the Special Collections reading room. More about this service

Three microfilm readers have been installed. A small amount of microfiche material is available, which readers will have to access in the Level 2 Centre Microform Room. To print from microfiche, readers need to use the reader/printer machines on Level 2 Centre, for which they have to purchase Flexicards from the Welcome Desk.

More information on the Cathedral Archives closure

It is advisable to contact Special Collections for an appointment, as the reading room is sometimes closed for seminars:

• email specialcollections@kent.ac.uk
• telephone 01227 82 7609

The Kent Academic Repository was upgraded on 14 February as part of the ongoing development of the University's showcase of its research outputs.

The new release offers:

• a new look and feel, making it easier to search and browse for research outputs
• a streamlined deposit process enabling researchers to upload the outputs in fewer, simpler steps
• enhanced documentation, help and support available to KAR users
• a faster database, delivering search results more quickly
• technical improvements to allow us to introduce other new features (including those to support the University’s REF submission) in the coming months

With this upgrade, KAR is becoming a constantly evolving system. We welcome your feedback and suggestions on how you would like to see Kent's institutional repository develop: email kar-admin@kent.ac.uk or use the new feedback feature in KAR itself.

Members of the KAR project team are offering additional support during this upgrade phase and will be happy to meet with academic schools to discuss the benefits of KAR. Hands-on training sessions for staff depositing their research outputs into KAR will also be scheduled in the coming months.

Find out more: www.kent.ac.uk/library/staff/kar.html

The Samuel Becket Digital Manuscript Project is a digital archive of Beckett's manuscripts, organised in 26 research modules. Each of these modules comprises digital facsimiles and transcriptions of all the extant manuscripts pertaining to an individual text, or in the case of shorter texts, a group of texts.

The first two modules are currently available: Stirrings Still / Soubresauts and Comment dire / what is the word.

You can access them via the Library's subject collections web page or the A-Z of e-resources.

As a pilot scheme running until the end of the 2011/12 academic year, DVDs with region code 2 can now be borrowed for use in or outside of the Templean Library by students and academic staff on a 24 hour loan basis (non-renewable). Exceptions are DVDs on screening lists or confined at the request of academic staff.

Please note that due to copyright restrictions DVDs can only be borrowed for educational use, and that fines are charged for lost or overdue items.

Full information on borrowing from the DVD/Video Collection is available at:
www.kent.ac.uk/library/resources/multimedia/dvd.html

We welcome all feedback on this pilot service: www.kent.ac.uk/is/feedback

Article Linker, the service which allows you to click through to available full-text of journal articles from databases like IBSS or Academic Search Complete, has been rebranded to become 360 Link to Full Text, using an icon that looks like this:

Not all databases have uploaded the new image yet, so you may still come across the old Article Linker button here and there.

The functionality of the service is exactly the same as before.

RefWorks now has a new interface (RefWorks 2.0), offering additional features and enhancements over the previous (classic) one.

Current account holders who log in are automatically taken to the RefWorks 2.0 interface. Any new accounts are also in the new interface.

The classic RefWorks interface will remain available until 31 December 2011. Users can select it using the link at the top of the new interface screen. In fact, you will be able to toggle between the new and classic views until the end of 2011 while you familiarise yourself with the new look interface.

The classic interface will withdrawn at the end of the year.

More information:

• RefWorks 2.0 Fundamentals Tutorial 
• RefWorks 2.0 Quick Start guide (pdf)

You can now send documents to selected student printers at Canterbury and Medway campuses from anywhere with an internet connection, without the need to install additional software or drivers. It will be extended to Tonbridge student printers soon.

Using a computer or mobile device (not iPhones or iPads), browse to http://printing.kent.ac.uk and login with your Kent username and password. Then, choose Web Print from the left-hand menu and follow the instructions.

The Web Print service is available for Microsoft Office, Microsoft XPS and PDF format documents, and is subject to the usual printing costs.

Use web-based printing:
http://printing.kent.ac.uk

More about printing at Kent:
www.kent.ac.uk/itservices/print

Delays are affecting document delivery and CLA scanning items requested from the British Library's Document Supply Centre in Boston Spa. This is due to necessary health and safety measures at the site, which are restricting access to stock. View a full explanation at: www.bl.uk/notices/deliverydelays.html

The British Library supplies about 90% of our document delivery items. For many requests we are currently asked to re-apply in 8 weeks’ time. Some CLA scanning requests that cannot be fulfilled from our own Library stock are also affected.

While we make every effort to find alternative sources for document delibvery requests, substantial delays remain likely; this is due to increased demand on resources from libraries across the UK. Due to the copyright issues with CLA items no alternative sources are possible.

We will notify any Library users whose requests are subject to substantial delays.

A number of changes were made to the carrels service in October 2010 and the impact of these changes was reviewed around Easter of this year – including a full consultation with carrel users.

A report of this review was produced and presented to the Library Users Panel which supported all of the proposals. The report is available at:
www.kent.ac.uk/is/committees/lup/agendas/1011/110524.html

The second part of the phased increase in monthly/quarterly rental charges will go ahead this autumn. The rental charge for monthly and quarterly carrels will be £15 per month from October 2011. This increase will enable Information Services to continue to maintain and run this valued and well-used service. This summer we also hope to make a number of improvements based on feedback from users, including the installation of an additional power socket in each carrel and the replacement of any substandard furniture and fittings.

In order the help manage the very high demand on the daily carrel service, we are introducing a charge of £1 per day from October 2011. The impact of this charge will be reviewed after one year.

Information on the carrels service is available at:
www.kent.ac.uk/library/templeman/study/carrels (these pages will be updated with details of the service changes over the summer).

If you have any comments on the carrels service or on the report of the review of the service, please:

• email Sam Thornton directly: S.Thornton@kent.ac.uk
• or use the IS feedback form.

Sam Thornton
Assistant Director (Customer Support)
Information Services
University of Kent

Templeman and Tonbridge Centre Library borrowers can now pay Library fines online via the University of Kent Online Store, or by following the link on the ‘My Fines’ page in your Library account.

Payment is by credit or debit card, and the minimum payment is £5.

Your Library account will be updated by 12 noon the next working day; any fines built up between time of payment and processing will be deleted. If your Library fines are £10 or more, your borrowing rights will remain suspended until the payment has been processed.

Payments for less than £5 should still be made in cash at the Loan Desk.

More information about Library fines: www.kent.ac.uk/library/templeman/borrow/fines.html

EBL e-books can only be viewed online and not downloaded to student PC’s.

To download EBL e-books to your own computer/pda, and to view and manage eBooks and other digital publications you can install Adobe Digital Editions software free of charge from the Adobe website:

http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions

Do you need a book that's not in the Library? Too few copies of a particular text?

The Library welcomes your suggestions of books you think we should buy. This can be items we don't have, or extra copies of existing titles. We may not be able to purchase all suggested titles, but will carefully consider your recommendation in light of module requirements and available budgets.

Students: to suggest a book, please fill in the recommend a book for purchase online form. Make sure you have checked the Library catalogue before submitting the form.

Academic staff: please contact your subject liaison librarian in the first instance. Alternatively, for books for current modules, please use the online reading list system.

Don't forget that if you need access to an item we don't hold, you may be able to request it via document delivery, which is likely to be much faster than a purchase recommendation.